FRANCIS HUGER, about 7 years old
GILBERT DU MOTIER, the Marquis de Lafayette, about 19 years old

The veranda of the house, same as the first scene, several days later. Morning. Francis and Gilbert are standing next to a column.

FRANCIS (pointing to a place in the distance):… and there’s a creek down there where we go fishing. There’re fish, but mainly crabs and shrimp. We can find oysters, too. Do you like oysters? (He makes a face.) I don’t like them very much.

GILBERT (laughingsoftly):Oh, it’s all the same to me. When I was at Court, we ate seafood. But, in truth, I prefer the cuisine of my region: Auvergne. It’s a mountainous place in the center of the country, towards the south. There’s not a lot of fish in the dishes. I prefer coq au vin and truffade. You’d like that, I think, truffade … (with eyes open wide) … a lot of cheese!

FRANCIS (chuckles, continues after a short pause): Did you know, sir, that my family comes from France?

GILBERT: Yes, I know. (smiling) With a name like “Huger,” there’s no doubt that there’s good French blood in that heart (pointing at Francis’s chest).

FRANCIS (smiling, suddenly a little disappointed): But, unfortunately, I don’t know how to speak French. Neither does Papa. Alice can read it … (skeptically) … at least that’s what she says. (Gilbert smiles.) It was my grandfather’s grandfather who came here a long time ago. I suppose, in the end, we just forgot how to speak it.

GILBERT: Surely. That’s too bad, but it’s nothing that can’t be remedied with a little effort, huh? Ask Alice to teach you a little.

(A short pause.)

FRANCIS: Sir, what’s it like in France? I mean … you’re a marquis. That’s a sort of little king, right?

GILBERT (chuckling): Something like that, I suppose. (After a short pause, he sighs.) France. Well, it’s very different there, Francis. The king is the center of the world for us. Power rests in his hands, not in ours. If you want power, you have to submit to the king, flatter him, await his good will. (a short pause while the two look into the distance) Nevertheless, I love my country. She’s my homeland. She’s my mother. France is beautiful, Francis, and I’m convinced that she will have a brillant future … (looking at Francis) … like the future of your country. The world is changing, Francis, and it’s for the better.

FRANCIS: That’s what Papa often says. Our king abuses us, he says. We only want to be left alone but, sometimes, he says, we have to fight for it. (a short pause) That’s why my brother went to war.

GILBERT: Yes, I know. And Francis, your brother was courageous. Always believe that. What he did was not a small thing.

FRANCIS: Yes. I know. That’s what Papa says, too. All the same, I would have preferred for him to stay here with us. (He bites his lip.) I miss him so much. (He looks down at the ground.)

GILBERT (gently touches Francis’s head): I’ve never lost a brother, Francis, but I think I understand your pain. (a short pause) Tell me: how old do you think I am?

FRANCIS (looks intently at Gilbert): Uh, I don’t know. You’re not old like Papa, like I imagined before you came.

GILBERT (laughing): Your father is not an old man, Francis!

FRANCIS: No, but you’re a lot younger than I expected. Young like my brother.

GILBERT: That’s precisely why I understand you, Francis. (a short pause) I never knew my father. He died in battle when I was a baby. That’s how I became a marquis. And my mother, well, she left us when I was only twelve. That was a very difficult thing to live as a young boy.

(Silence for a while.)

FRANCIS: I never knew my mother, sir. She died just after I was born. But Nathaniel, he knew her. He often told me how beautiful she was. (a short pause) I have a portrait of her. Would you like to see it?

GILBERT (nodding his head): Yes, I’d like that very much.

(Francis takes a small portrait from his pocket and shows it to Gilbert.)

GILBERT: Nathaniel was right, Francis. She was beautiful. (He gives the portrait back to Francis, who puts it back in his pocket.)

FRANCIS: Are you married, sir?

GILBERT: Yes. I have a wife who’s waiting for me in France.

FRANCIS: Do you miss her?

GILBERT: Oh yes, very much. And she misses me as well, but she understands why I am here. She understands what I am doing here, that I will be in America for a year, two years perhaps. You see, Francis … (Gilbert hesitates, reflecting …) Sometimes, a moment comes when we have to make sacrifices, when we have to make difficult decisions for a struggle, for a cause that is greater than ourselves. (Gilbert and Francis sit down on the steps.) That’s precisely what your brother did when he went to war. That’s precisely what I did when I left my country and my wife. I knew at that moment what I had to do. It was something that I felt in the depths of my soul, you see. It was as if my heart were speaking. Do you understand me?

FRANCIS: Yes sir, I think I understand you.

GILBERT (smiling):Francis, if you want, you can call me Gilbert. I’d like that.

4 thoughts on “Act One, Scene 6”

Okay, I’ve finally caught up. It’s captivating, the more you wrote the more it drew me in. What a well written play, and that you did this all in French for your studies – oh wow, am so impressed with that. The play should be published. Thanks for taking the time to translate it back to English for the blog.